Construction Update: Flipping Switches

Work to install a new signal controller on the traffic light at the intersection of Seventh Street and Toll House Avenue was completed last week and our new signal at Seventh Street and Emma Smith Drive is currently in flash mode. The light will flash for about a week before it begins cycling like a typical signal. We’ve taken great care to program these two signals so they will work together to prevent traffic back-ups along Seventh Street. We’d like to ask you to use caution as these changes to traffic flow near our campus are implemented.

As our parking garage expansion continues to take shape outside (you can watch the pieces come together in the video above), we’ve also flipped the switch to launch a brand new electronic medical record system.

From scheduling appointments to ordering tests to billing for services, a software platform called MEDITECH supports virtually all the hospital’s daily operations. In January 2012, FMH kicked off an 18-month plan to customize and integrate the most powerful version to date of this leading-edge software package.

According to FMH Director of Clinical Applications Jackie Rice, RN, this ambitious roll-out affects every department in the hospital, from physicians and nurses, to pharmacists, lab technologists and administrative staff.

While MEDITECH provides a solid foundation for hospital operations, the FMH Information Services staff has been hard at work for more than a year carefully customizing the package to assure that it reflects FMH standards, policies and procedures. The end result? More integrated information, more user friendly clinical and financial systems and a better patient experience.

A Better Patient Experience

One of the most significant benefits of MEDITECH 6.1 will be in the area of patient scheduling. According to Master Applications Analyst and Project Leader Laura Jones, staff members at the FMH Scheduling Center will be able to offer patients more options, more quickly, than ever before.

“For example, when a patient calls the Scheduling Center to make an appointment for a screening mammogram,” says Jones, “MEDITECH 6.1 will show all available appointments at all four FMH facilities where that test is offered—all on one screen. The scheduler can then inform the patient of appointment availability at her preferred location as well as at the other FMH locations where the diagnostic test is offered, giving her more flexibility and choice.”

Also included in the new module, says Jones, are a set of prompts for the scheduler to ask the patient to assure that he or she will be as comfortable as possible during the test, and able to complete it during the scheduled time. An added benefit to patients will be faster and more complete insurance verification and pre-authorization.

Our pledge is to keep you informed. You can track our construction progress through our Flickr Photostream. As always, if you have feedback for us, please feel free to leave a comment right here on our blog, reach out to us on Facebook, or talk to us on Twitter.